Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Irony

Ashlynn's friend Anslie was recently hospitalized at Rady Children's Hospital and Ashlynn and I were able to visit her while she was there. What is so ironic about this is that only a few weeks later Ashlynn was admitted to the same hospital.

I first noticed what looked like a quarter sized red, raised, firm bump on Ashlynn's butt on a Tuesday and took her to the pediatricians office where we were prescribed antibiotics. Two days later Ashlynn would rather crawl than walk because it was too painful. I took her back in on Thursday and it had grown from a quarter to flattened tennis ball size.

We were admitted latter that day to Children's Hospital because they believed that since it continued to get worse with the antibiotics Ashlynn must have MRSA (a resistant strain or Staph) They put her on stronger IV antibiotics to "ripen" the sore to make it softer so they could drain it.

They had to put a booty on it because she kept chewing on the tubing


It took until Saturday for the sore to "ripen" and they took her to the operating room. They had to give her general anesthesia which knocked her out in seconds. It was sad to watch. We couldn't be there for the procedure but it only took 35 minutes till we could see her. This was the worse part of the entire stay because when she woke up she went crazy. Nothing I've ever seen. Crying, screaming, flailing her arms and legs, wanting to be held but wiggling to get down at the same time. It was horrifying and went on for an hour. She finally passed out and woke a few hours later totally fine.

While we were at the hospital Ashlynn was put on isolation, she was not permitted to leave the room and anyone who came in put on gloves and a gown, this was to prevent it from spreading to other patients. It was hard to keep her entertained in the little room and she often watched people go by out the window of her door.

Ashlynn is home now and feeling much better. We still have to care for her sore and keep her on antibiotics so it doesn't reestablish. Because Ashlynn has eczema and can easily get breaks in her skin she is more prone to getting infections like these and others more often.

1 comment:

  1. Soooooo sad! I hate that you had to go through that! I am so happy that she is doing better and wish I was near you to help with things. Please let me know if there is something I can do...even if it's just to talk on the phone. You know I am always available!

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